CONCERT PREVIEW: After 47 years, Chicago is no oldies band

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since the Chicago Transit Authority first formed 47 years ago, not least a shifting lineup that's seen major changes – such as the departure of lead singer Peter Cetera in the mid-'80s – and spot adjustments. “Now: Chicago XXXVI,” which came out July 8 and features 11 new songs, is Chicago's 23rd studio album and 36th overall.

For a band that’s been at it as long as Chicago – and that’s since 1967, if you really want to talk about it – new albums more often serve as road cones, marking time and longevity rather than anything artistically interesting.

That’s part of why the hitmaking “rock-with-horns” ensemble’s latest is downright refreshing. It looks like Chicago, it sounds like Chicago and it rocks like Chicago.

“I think it’s a pure Chicago album,” said band co-founder Robert Lamm in a recent interview before the band’s Aug. 20 performance at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston. “You know if you go back, the first seven or eight albums we recorded, they were very eclectic and we didn’t really think about whether songs were radio-friendly or not. This album is a lot like that, because if you look at what we laughingly call ‘the music business’ these days, it’s really everyone’s an independent artist in a way. It’s a very musical album.”

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since the Chicago Transit Authority first formed 47 years ago, not least a shifting lineup that’s seen major changes – such as the departure of lead singer Peter Cetera in the mid-’80s – and spot adjustments. “Now: Chicago XXXVI,” which came out July 8 and features 11 new songs, is Chicago’s 23rd studio album and 36th overall, but is still long in coming. The band hasn’t released an album of new originals since 2006.

The new album has an unusual creation story. Chicago traveled with a fully mobile production system called “The Rig” that allowed its members to record on the road in hotels and wherever they could find time between performances. Chicago’s members would record their parts usually in isolated fashion, and a private Web portal was used to synchronize the parts and finish the production so it didn’t sound like a patchwork.

“I was dubious at first,” Lamm said. “It is exhausting to travel and play 100 to 120 shows per year like we do, and I didn’t think we would have the energy to do it. And I think the idea was initially just to write, arrange and record new music with no particular release date in mind. The fact that this became an album was accidental. The work just kind of continued.”

That neither the band nor fans had planned on a solid new album meant pleasant surprise all around.

“The feedback we get all over is that after all these hit singles and very successful albums, Chicago is still being requested. Chicago is always being played somewhere in the world, so is there a need for new work?” Lamm said. “But we’re very flattered by the reaction we’ve gotten. I think people have been surprised by the freshness of it. We really didn’t self-consciously aim it at radio or want it to be popular.”

Page 2 of 2 - Lamm has a long-running solo career to keep him busy, but sees no reason to scale back Chicago. The current lineup is as strong its ever been, he said.

“It’s a large rhythm section, but we have cohesion and a sense of the group in the pocket, night after night,” he said. “We may think some nights are better than others, but the hope is the audience never knows. This is very much Chicago.”